Enjoy the Holiday Spirit

Folks are busy shopping for great bargains, the market closes early today, and there is probably some pumpkin pie left in the refrigerator so why shouldn't we have upbeat market action this morning? All is well, and traders are running up a few stocks to bank quick gains.

Breadth is very strong, with 3850 gainers to just 1050 decliners, and all major sectors in the green. Precious metals have come to life and are attracting speculative interest for the first time in a while, and biotech and even semiconductors are active again. Research In Motion (RIMM), Nokia (NOK) and some of the other long-term laggards are catching bids.

Trading is a bit frenzied this morning as traders worry that they are missing out. I wish I had a little more exposure here, but I'm still in thinner small-cap names such as Perion Network (PERI), Security National Financial (SNFCA) and Impac Mortgage (IMH). My stops are very tight and I'm inclined to err on the side of taking gains early.

I suspect that next week the mood will become more mixed as the fiscal cliff issue arises again, and European problems fail to go away. For now, we might as well enjoy the holiday spirit.

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